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Preliminary budget numbers for the upcoming school year suggest that the Perham-Dent School District will have a much smaller deficit within the next two years, due largely to changes enacted by the most recent Minnesota Legislature. The preliminary budget for the district’s 2014 fiscal year projects a deficit of $793,000, which is down from $810,000 in the previous year. Part of that difference is due to an increase in per pupil funding from the state, which went up 1.5 percent this year, said the district’s Business Manager, Kristi Werner.

At a special meeting on July 1, the Perham-Dent school board unanimously approved the hiring of Jennifer Hendrickson as Heart of the Lakes Elementary School’s newest principal. Hendrickson is replacing the departing Kari Yates, who has accepted a position with Moorhead Public Schools. The language in Hendrickson’s contract is “standard,” and will be similar to that of Yates’, according to Perham-Dent School Board member Jim Ri

As of July 1, New York Mills High School has had a new hand at the wheel. Michelle Young-Lecoustre was recently hired to be the new secondary school principal, replacing Blaine Novak as he moves into the position of superintendent. Young-Lecoustre has a leadership degree from Winona State, a bachelor’s degree in social and behavioral sciences from Mankato State, and is completing her master’s degree in special education at Con

At its monthly meeting on June 24, the New York Mills School Board was informed of the possibility of levying a new tax on school district residents at a rate of $300 per student. The potential levy, possible due to changes made in the 2013 state legislative session, is part of an increase of $485 million in new state education spending over the next biennium, according to Superintendent Todd Cameron. “The state is collecting more revenue and we’re getting ourselves back into the black,” he said. In addition to the possible levy, the district will receive $5,302 per pupil in

Last week’s downpour caused more than just mild flooding in the Perham area – it also caused sewer systems on the south side of town to back up, causing wastewater to flood into several area homes. When parts of Perham lost power during the storm, the lift stations for both the sanitary and storm water systems temporarily shut down, despite their backup generator, said City Manager Kelcey Klemm. “The storm sewer lift station by the liquor store was out of power, which caused a lot of rainwater to back up, and a lot of rainwater backed up into the fairgrounds property, which is where our

Kari Yates is leaving her position as Heart of the Lakes Elementary School Principal to take on the role of Program Manager for Literacy and English Learners with Moorhead Public Schools. “I just have an opportunity that feels like it’s a really good match and a really good next step for me,” she said in an interview.

Most college students’ summer plans center around a part-time job, internship, or a vacation or three. Emily Wurgler, a 2010 graduate of Perham High School and current senior at Concordia College in Moorhead, has found a way to combine elements of all three – she is going on the “Snorri” program, a six-week trip to Iceland that’s part study abroad trip and part work-study program, all designed to help her and 14 other students of Icelandic descent discover their shared heritage. “This trip is absolutely amazing,” Wurgler wrote in an e-mail at the conclusion of the first week.

Swathes of would-be rescuers were called to the scene of a false kidnapping that occurred on June 8 in Perham. Officials from the Perham, New York Mills, and Fergus Falls police departments, as well as the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office and Water Patrol, the Minnesota State Patrol and the Perham Fire Department, rushed to the scene in order to locate a 3-year-old child who was reported missing roughly an hour after her older sister lost track of her while babysitting. After a 45-minute search, the child was discovered to be safely in the care of her mother, who police said was unawar

The Perham-Dent School Board recently approved the hiring of Erin Anderson to be the district’s new Activities Director/Student Success Coordinator, replacing the retiring Fred Sailer. Anderson was a youth director for Perham’s Calvary Lutheran Church until 2008, when he was asked to join the Synod staff and work administratively, he explained in a phone interview. Over the past three years, Anderson has been the executive director at Pathways, an outdoor ministry association. “The last five years have really honed my administrative side of things,” he said. As far as athletics are

At its most recent meeting on June 11, the New York Mills City Council voted unanimously to charge in-town residents for fire service. “Fire service” refers to any deployment of firefighting personnel and/or equipment to extinguish a fire, and thus does not extend to medical calls, which are the majority of the department’s calls, according to Fire Chief Kyle Mattson. However, residents would not be charged for small incidents, such as accidentally triggering a fire alarm, or non-serious car accidents, Mattson added. Fire victims will be charged $400 per hour at the department’s discr